I will post some pics soon. I mostly followed packets build plan.
1) Since it is winter and cold in my garage, I will be using the flex watt heater tape and reflectix insulation. I hope to test it this weekend. If you read up on this, it is almost exclusively used for reptiles, so there are a lot of precautions about using a thermostat and dimmer so that the temp can not get above 90F and you don't end up with roasted rattlesnake. I also saw some info that the material itself is only compatible up to 110-120F. I have 11" width that I plan to use on the cone, two pieces oriented like a diamond as suggested earlier in the thread. I will also put a 3" wide strip around conical just above the stand. When I tested this on the counter in my kitchen, the 11" piece never got above 92F and the 3" piece got close to 100F before I shut it off. I plan on using my controller to pulse this every few seconds to control the temp, but I am not sure how well it will work if the 3" and 11" operate at different temps. BTW, this stuff is really easy to work with if you can solder.
2) I did not use quick connects on the connections to the cooler as I don't expect to need to disconnect it too much. This resulted in having to transition from PEX to braided tubing and I used hose clamps on PEX fittings. It does not fit nicely like a hose barb fitting, so I am hoping it will be reliable
3) I looked for quite a while at coming up with a way to move the connection to the coil outside of the lid. I am concerned that if this connection leaks I will not know and I will have undetected PG going into my beer. I know it is non-toxic, but I don't really want to add it to my beer, especially if I don't know it is happening. One idea was to bore out a FIP-compression fitting to pass the tubing through a nipple and still have a way to seal the lid, but this would take 4 more SS compression fittings, 4 nipples SS nuts, and drilling of these fittings. They make bored out fittings for 1/4" tubing, but I could not find any for 1/2" tubing. Anyone else have a solution to this? In the end I plan on sticking with the current design, save the cost and trust the fittings.